EuPRAXIA Virtual Seminar Series

Multi-disciplinary Applications of Plasma-based Accelerators

Date: Friday 6th March 2026 at 11:00 GMT (UK time)
Speaker: Enrica Chiadroni, Associate Professor at Sapienza University of Rome

Abstract

Plasma-based accelerators have emerged as one of the most promising technologies for next-generation particle acceleration, offering accelerating gradients orders of magnitude higher than those achievable in conventional radio-frequency structures. This talk will present an overview of the multi-disciplinary impact of plasma-based accelerators, spanning fundamental research, technological innovation, and broadband applications.

I will first review recent advancements in plasma accelerator technology, improved control of beam quality, staging concepts, and enhanced stability and reproducibility. These developments are paving the way toward compact, high-gradient accelerators capable of delivering high-brightness, high-energy particle beams.

A major focus will be on radiation sources enabled by plasma acceleration, such as compact X-ray and gamma-ray sources, and betatron radiation. These sources hold strong potential for applications in ultrafast science, materials characterization, and medical imaging.

The talk will also highlight innovative plasma-based ancillary components for particle accelerators, including active plasma lenses for strong, symmetric focusing; plasma-based bending and beam manipulation concepts; and novel beam matching and transport solutions. These elements represent transformative tools for reducing size and complexity in accelerator systems.

 

Biography

Since September 2021, Enrica Chiadroni has been Associate Professor at Sapienza University of Rome in the Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering. Previously, until August 2021, she served as Senior Scientist at INFN – Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF), where she had been active since 2001 in the SPARC_LAB group.

Her research career has focused on high-brightness electron beam dynamics, free-electron lasers, THz radiation sources, and plasma-based acceleration techniques. She has coordinated machine operations at SPARC_LAB, led several national and international projects (including FIRB 2012, SL_Femtotera, SL_COMB, SL_COMB2FEL, SL_BetaTest), and played a key role in demonstrating the first SASE and seeded FELs driven by a plasma wakefield accelerator.

She has been strongly involved in EuPRAXIA, serving as co-leader of Work Package 11 – Applications, a steering committee member, and coordinator for injector studies (in the EuPRAXIA Design Study). At the European and international level, she has been an invited speaker at major conferences (IPAC, EAAC), chair of EAAC2023, and a member of several scientific and organizing committees (IPAC, LINAC, EPS-AG, APS-DPB).

She has authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers, including several in Nature journals, and has given invited lectures at CERN and international accelerator schools. Her contributions span beam diagnostics, FEL physics, THz sources, and plasma accelerators.